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Tyree Page, 18, of Greensboro, N.C., sports a set of reflective shades along Ocean Boulevard Wednesday in Myrtle Beach.

While the spring breakers are in town emotions can get pretty high with comments about my work in the newspaper and also on the web.

I received lots of letters yesterday about the photos of a spring breaker from North Carolina shown on the front page during a DUI arrest.

The assignment was a ride along with officer Troy Spivey and during the evening he noticed her erratic behaviors behind the wheel. The young adult was later charged with DUI and simple possession of marijuana. I decided to let my blog readers see one of the letters. Some of you might agree but I think we made the correct decision publishing the photos.

Mr. Hill, 

Your photos in today’s paper of the 18-year-old girl getting arrested were despicable. I realize that information of people getting arrested is of public record, but this crosses a line. Believe me, I’m not making light of the fact that this girl was arrested for DUI (a serious offense), but to put a very clear image of her on the front page is a borderline invasion of privacy. Let’s try to keep in mind that unless that girl pleaded guilty to the offense upon booking, then she’s still innocent until proven otherwise. 

If I were this girl’s father, I’d be on the phone with my attorney. Not only to help her with this charge, but to go after you as well. At the very least, I’d be doing everything I could to VERY PUBLICLY expose the dirtiest secrets I could find about you.

This girl (and I emphasis the word “girl”) is a kid who made a mistake and should not be dragged through the proverbial public coals for it. I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that you wouldn’t want a photographer at your most vulnerable moment when you were 18. I bet you did some pretty embarrassing things. We all did. It’s a sad day in the world of newspapers when a kid on spring break gets plastered on the front page while far more important stories of world news get buried on the inside pages. 

By the way, it’s equally despicable of the police department to let you inside the jail to take photos of arrestees. If I were that girl, I’d have spit in your face!  

These photos are no better than stalker paparazzi shots of trying to catch celebrities with their pants down. 

Robert Warren
Myrtle Beach    

On a lighter note

Yesterday, along with photographing smarter spring breakers, I was given a lighter assignment to photograph the new home run dog “Deuce” being introduced at a press conference by The Myrtle Beach Pelicans at BB&T Coastal Field.

If you’ve ever been to a Pelicans’ game, you’ve enjoyed watching “Dinger”, the current home run dog, bringing out new baseballs to the umpires at games. “Dinger” is getting up there in years so they will be training “Deuce” to take his place.

It was fun to hangout with the yellow labs for about an hour yesterday and break up the newsy events of the day before.

rlh 

Myrtle Beach Police officer Troy Spivey uses a car’s edge as a guide as he backs up returning to his patrol vehicle Monday night while on duty. Traffic officers on the force are trained to always keep their eyes on the occupants while they approach and depart the driver side of a stopped vehicle.

On Monday I had the opportunity to ride along with Myrtle Beach police traffic officer Troy Spivey for a portion of his nighttime shift.

Being spring break and Myrtle Beach, the town didn’t let me down and there was excitement even though it was a Monday night and pretty cold.

During the night, I photographed Spivey and his fellow officers as they quelled a street fight on Ocean Boulevard and witnessed as Spivey made a DUI and drug arrest on Highway 17 late into his shift.

I felt bad for the young spring breakers arrested during the evening but drove home feeling a little safer because of Spivey’s professional work ethic.

An eleven-year veteran of the force, officer Spivey was the best thing that could of happened to the young adults.

I hope one day they see this and thank him for being so professional.

See the gallery of images at myrtlebeachonline.com

rlh

My friend and fellow Wat Carolina patron Jane Tigar sent me some of her photos from the Buddha ceremony on Saturday. I haven’t figured out a way to do a gallery for my wordpress blog so I edited her take down to this wonderful photo of Chao Khun and the beautiful statue.

photo by Jane Tigar © 2008

rlh

On Saturday there was a special surprise at Wat Carolina marked by the arrival of a new life size Buddha statue donated by temple patrons from Pennsylvania.

My intention was to go visit the monks and make a donation honoring my father and his recovery.

To my delight, I was lucky to witness the ceremony dedicating the new statue made from solid brass, gold plated and as we found during the placement, very heavy.

rlh

Socastee High School student body president Tayler Easton (right), 17, and her prom date Houston Goin, walk up a hill after posing for family photos at Prestwick Golf and Country Club Thursday in Myrtle Beach.

For Thursday, I was given the task by photo editor Steve Jessmore to come up with something interesting for coverage of prom night. Four area schools had festivities on the same evening and he wanted to give the print edition a photo to refer to galleries readers could submit their own photos to.

To see how I did, go to myrtlebeachonline.com for all the colorful dresses and black tuxedos I was able to witness.

rlh

Old American gas station Highway 87, Eden, North Carolina, 2008

The visits with my father during his illness have given me a chance to get a closer look at the town of Eden, N.C. where I was raised.

She’s a small town nestled on the NC/VA border with a dead reliance on textiles and tobacco. I remember the motivating cause for me to go to college was a brief but learning employment in 1978 as a cloth doffer at the Fieldcrest bed sheet mill.

I like the jobs at the mill, left like a feather in the wind of change.

It’s a beautiful town with two amazing rivers (Dan and Smith) running through the heart of the city. As a youth my friends and I spent many days playing in the rivers and the creeks that feed them.

But just like most of America, Eden is suffering from the transfer of jobs to the third world and the corporate take over of the American dream.

I wish as a youth I could of had the hindsight to journalistically photograph the mills in my old town. The contrast with today’s empty and rotting buildings in just one generation would have been the book of a lifetime.

By the way, my father is doing much better and the clinic is making great progress in his rehabilitation. He should be able to return home next week.

rlh

A homeless man feeds seagulls with breadcrumbs Sunday along the present boardwalk near 9th Ave. North in Myrtle Beach. Many business owners along the city’s oceanfront hope plans go through to expand and upgrade the present boardwalk from Pier 14 to the 2nd Ave. Pier.

Last week after returning from helping my father during his illness, I had my first week working with our new director of photography Steve Jessmore.

Steve came to The Sun News after a successful career working for newspapers in his home state of Michigan. His work has been honored by almost every photojournalism contest there is.

When he first interviewed for the job last October, we were all hopeful he would take the offer to come to The Sun News. He had a lot of energy and seemed to have the experience needed to bridge together the many fractions of our newspaper’s staff.

A newspaper buyout in Michigan, the difficulties of leaving ties from a state he loves and the hardships of moving his family were just a few of the obstacles in his way to getting to the sunny south.

Four months later and he is here and if this last week is any indication of his leadership then I’m going to be very happy.

It was a gift to have an encouraging, yet challenging voice in photo and nice to see the staff working together and talking about photojournalism again.

rlh

Is it that time again?

Ah the beauty of working in a resort town.

I noticed today they are trickling back to the beach like a leaky faucet.

You know, the tourists with whom we both love and hate. They are the guys that fill the restaurants and rent all our videos and cut in front of us in traffic. They are the people who demand first service at the grocery line with their baskets and carts full to the brim. Hell, they are the reason all the signs at the beach are so bright and large and distracting.

They come with their crotch rockets and V-twins, their Hummers and classic Mustangs. They usually have nowhere to go when they arrive so they just drive back and forth on the highways burning that Texas Tea and giving Bush more reason to have us in Iraq.

The babies are emerging from the womb of spring and it will soon be hot and sticky and perhaps too much skin will be revealed along The Strand. The thong bikinis and the spandex trunks will be all over the Redneck Rivera and once again lots of money will be made.

This will be my 9th summer here and I’m ready for the attack.

rlh

Eula Chalk (center) of Columbia looks for the gravesite of her younger brother Weldon Truett Eaddy at the Parker Cemetery on Saturday in Western Horry County. Eaddy, who died in 1930 after an accidental fall, was buried in the cemetery in a grave marked only with bricks. The ceremony on Saturday, which included laying a proper marker on Eddy’s grave, celebrated the restoration of the historical but remote graveyard.

With dad safe and in the care of the physical therapists back home, it was a blessing to return to work and think about photojournalism again. To me my work is therapy and it nourishes my soul.

I had the opportunity to cover an interesting assignment today about history and closure.

When Eula Chalk was a small girl her brother died suddenly after he suffered a broken neck from a fall. The family was too poor to afford a grave marker so they placed his body in the ground and marked it with a few bricks.

For many years Eula was bothered by the thought of her brother’s grave. Now at age 90 and through a chance meeting with a relative she had a chance to fix the problem.

The Parker Cemetery is located in a remote section of Western Horry County. You travel to nowhere and then go down two long dirt roads and through an entranceway right out of a western movie.

_______________________________

A note about my father’s care

The health professionals who cared for my dad were wonderful and they inspired me to think about the gifts, which come with a tough job.

Whose job is more stressful than the people who become nurse’s aides?

There was one aide named Angie Scales whose work ethic stood above all others. She always seemed to be around when my dad or I needed her. She never complained and always helped me see the positive during the tough times of his hospital stay.

Her attitude inspired me to learn from her example and to see the positive in others.

Angie, you healed me as much as you did my father and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

rlh

Today makes the 5th day of my father’s stay at the hospital. We are currently waiting for a space and transfer to the rehabilitation clinic next to the hospital. This morning my brother and I had a heart to heart with dad about his lack of enthusiasm for his physical therapy. Since his retirement in 1994 he’s not been active with exercise and this has contributed to his recent condition.

It’s hard for me to accept the fact he may never come home and live an independent life. This is the reason I’m being tough on him and his acceptance of the situation. I can’t imagine him unable to take care of himself. Today I wept after helping the nursing aide with his second accidental bowel movement. I pray this is a result of the flu but I’m not sure. No one can answer the questions I’m asking and the doctor is lukewarm with his assessment of dad’s condition and his ability to live at home.

Today was the first day I felt really scared for him and his future.

rlh